Jamie Tardif has been back in the Rochester Americans' lineup for four games and he has scored a goal in each one.

The Amerks have won all four games.

Yeah, he's that important, some would say.

"Those guys are hard to come by," assistant coach Chris Taylor said following Tuesday's practice, when the Amerks prepared for Wednesday's 7:05 p.m. home game against the Chicago Wolves. "When they're not in the lineup, you definitely miss them."

Tardif will never dazzle with acrobatic moves or artistic puck skills. He learned long ago that he had as much chance of kicking a 60-yard field goal for the Buffalo Bills as he does emulating Teemu Selanne on a rink-length rush. But he also learned long ago that if you set up camp at the blue paint of the goal crease, you can score a lot of goals. Big goals, too.

The last four scored by Tardif all played a big part in the Amerks winning. As a result, they won four consecutive games on the road (no home games in between) for the first time in seven years.

The eighth-year right winger broke a 2-2 tie with his power-play goal at 14:24 of the third period in what became a 4-3 victory at Oklahoma City on Jan. 17. The next night, his goal at San Antonio at 7:08 of the third period broke a 2-2 tie and the Amerks won 3-2.

On Thursday, his goal at 15:19 of the first period put Lake Erie in a 3-0 hole, and the Amerks won 4-1. Then on Saturday, his goal at 12:14 of the first gave the Amerks a 3-1 cushion and they rolled to a 5-2 victory.

Total distance traveled by the puck: Not even two yards.

"Five or six feet," Tardif estimated. "Less than six, for sure."

That's pretty much been Tardif's career, too. He scored a career-high 30 last season for the American Hockey League's Providence Bruins. In 2010-11, he found the net 27 times for the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Rarely was he driving 30-foot slap shots past the goalie.

"I'm a guy who's not a very flashy skater by any means," he said. "My first year in the OHL (Ontario Hockey League), I was a rookie at 16. We had Eric Staal (captain of the Carolina Hurricanes) and a couple other skilled forwards.

"I knew if I was going to get ice time on the power play, I had to be the guy who would go to the dirty areas and create space."

Of course, being there and doing something with the puck sometimes are two different things. He is able to score, however.

"He has great hands around the net," said Taylor, who said comparing Tardif's goal-mouth talents to former Amerks Craig Fisher or Jason Botterill wouldn't be off the mark. "And he's sneaky good. He keeps guys to the outside (with body positioning tricks)."

That has been Tardif's M.O. for a decade. He has 12 goals, 13 assists and 25 points in 27 games, including 10-4-14 in his past 12 games.

"In any league, if you want to score, you have to go to the net," Tardif said. "You need to be putting pucks on net and getting to those dirty areas."

Not everyone can play that way. Pain tolerance must be high, due to abuse from defensemen, and the battle for space in non-stop in front of the goalie.

"He's a big-game player," Taylor said. "He's one of those guys who always competes. He wants to be that guy."

KEVINO@DemocratandChronicle.com

Twitter.com/@kevinoDandC

Hockey night

The matchup:

Amerks vs. Chicago Wolves (affiliate of the NHL's St. Louis Blues).

Time/place:

7:05 p.m. Wednesday/Blue Cross Arena at the Rochester Community War Memorial.

Tickets:

$20, $22, $24.

Records:

The Amerks, riding a four-game winning streak, are 19-15-3-3. Chicago is 23-15-2-2.

Welcome home:

David Shields of Irondequoit is in his third season in the St. Louis Blues organization and will play for the first time as a pro at home. The defenseman has 5-6-11 in 40 games. He has a plus/minus rating of plus-7 (and plus-12 over the past 36 games).

Amerks injuries:

RW Joel Armia (hand) is day-to-day. RW/C Mike Zigomanis (neck) is still skating in practice in a no-contact sweater but remains out indefinitely.

Broadcasts:

Time Warner Cable SportsChannel (26), WHTK-AM (1280).

Four

After missing time due to injury, Jamie Tardif has scored four goals in four games, leading the Amerks to four wins.